


Chronicles of Darkness and Daylight

by Destyno



Category: Changeling: The Lost, Mage: The Awakening, Tales of Arcadia (Cartoons), Vampire: The Requiem, Werewolf: The Forsaken, World of Darkness (Games)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fusion, Blood Magic, Fae & Fairies, Families of Choice, Gen, Kidnapping, Magic, Murder Mystery, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Vampires, Werewolves
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-08
Updated: 2019-08-15
Packaged: 2020-08-13 03:33:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,657
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20167453
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Destyno/pseuds/Destyno
Summary: Tobias Domzalski is lost. Changed by years spent trapped in a land of dreams and nightmares, he returns to a world that has gone on without him. What could be worse than being a stranger in your own home?James Lake Jr. is angry. Something has taken the shape of his best friend, and no one believes him. A fury starts burning in his heart, a fury that shines like moonlight and growls like a feral wolf. One day the rage will take him. Who will die that day?Claire Nuñez is worried. Her brother has been replaced by something else, something that isn't human. And if she's right, what other mysteries could hide in the shadows of Arcadia Oaks?Blinkous Galadrigal is dead. He’s okay with that, filling his nights with studies on the nature of vampirism. And then one of his kind gets murdered. Who is strong enough to kill Kanjigar the Courageous and get away without a scratch?Aaarrrgh has never been alive in the first place. Created in the dark and animated by stolen fire, made to be the perfect soldier. He swore to never hurt anyone ever again. But he knows he will have to face a choice one day: what’s more important? His oath, or his friends’ lives?The Sun is dead. Long live the Eldritch Queen.





	1. Chapter 1

Five years ago, Tobias Domzalski disappeared and nobody noticed.

This may have been due to the fact that someone else was left in his place: a boy small and round, with wild red hair, bright green eyes and shining braces, who looked and talked and walked exactly like Tobias Domzalski.

Although, saying that _ nobody _ noticed isn’t exactly correct, because someone did indeed notice: a boy the same age as the lost Tobias, a quiet and caring boy with dark hair and blue eyes, who answered to the name of Jim Lake Jr. and was Tobias Domzalski’s neighbour and best friend.

The latter fact confused a lot of people, including Jim’s mother, when they saw how Jim acted in front of the boy left in the place of Toby.

“We’re going to be late for school, Jimbo.”

Jim winced at the sudden voice.

“_Don’t _ call me Jimbo.” He snarled at the thing shaped like his best friend. “Only Toby gets to call me that.”

Not-Toby, as Jim frequently referred to it in his head, sighed.

“Dude, I think I’ve told you a thousand times already, _ I am Toby_.”

“And I told you a thousand times that I know you’re not.” Jim put his helmet on and got on his bike. “So you can stop pretending.”

In another world, two boys, each the other's best friend, took a shortcut through the canals, trying not to be late for school. In that world, one of these boys was entrusted with a powerful artifact that made him into the protector of a species of magical creatures who lived under bridges and feared sunlight.

But in this world, the two boys were not friends; in this world, the boy who would have been the Trollhunter saw that the other had taken the shortcut and had decided to take the longer route to his school.

And so the boy who looked and talked and walked like Tobias Domzalski took the canals alone; and it was there, in the shadow of the bridge, that he felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up, sending a shiver down his spine.

He stopped dead in his tracks.

Something inside him, something deep and dark and full of dust, the something that sometimes stared at him in the mirror with a face of dried leaves and bright green buttons for eyes, was screaming _ danger _ , was begging to just _ run, run away, he’s back and he wants to kill you_.

He turned, and-

And it was staring right at the face of Tobias Domzalski.

Except that it was more like someone had taken a boulder and roughly sculpted into a shape that might have looked like Tobias Domzalski, if Tobias Domzalski had been a gargoyle: his skin was rough and grey, stoney-like, and horns were protruding from his forehead; his teeth were sharp as knives, shining like diamonds in the morning light, bared in a bestial snarl; and his eyes were two faceted emeralds, angry and bright as witchfire. 

“Hope you had fun with my life, fetch.” Spat the gargoyle, stepping forward. “Because I want it _ back_.”

Five years ago, Tobias Domzalski disappeared and only one person noticed.

This may have been due to the fact that Tobias Domzalski was kidnapped by a pale, woman-shaped being clad in gold armor, with shimmering green eyes and a hand carved in emerald, who took him through a Hedge of thorns and brambles to the Land of the Eternal Night, where only the crimson light of a dying sun illuminated the earth.

She brought him to her Castle of Black Glass, where she took his eyes, and with them his memories, and replaced them with glittering gemstones, so that she may see into the mortal world through him; then she placed him in her chambers and made him into a statue, an ornament that she could use to spy on her servnts in the world of flesh.

Whispers of other servants called her many names: they called her the Eldritch Queen, the Mistress of Shadows and the Pale Lady; there were also whispers of another name, hidden deep, deep within the Castle of Black Glass, and the Pale Lady kept it a secret, for it was prophesied that it would one day bring about her doom.

The gargoyle that had once been a boy spent the timeless hours of twilight silently watching the mortal world, for it could do little else, until, one faithful moment where its Mistress was away, its eyes caught sight of something that struck it as familiar.

It saw a a quiet and caring boy with dark hair and blue eyes, who answered to the name of Jim Lake Jr. and had once been Tobias Domzalski’s best friend.

And it was then that the gargoyle remembered that it had once been a boy who had a loving grandmother, and a best friend, and so many cats he couldn’t count.

That he had had a _ home_.

He stormed out of the chamber and raged deep, deep into the Castle of Black Glass, where he found a small, golden egg: he smashed it on the black walls and, as it broke, it whispered a name so great and terrible that the gargoyle could not remember; he tore through the rest of the Castle, no servant able to stop him, and ran away into the Hedge through which he had once came, finally back into the mortal world.

Except the mortal world hadn’t even noticed he had been gone; for the Mistress of Shadows had been clever, and left a puppet where the gargoyle-boy had once been, a puppet of dried leaves and green buttons for eyes.

That was when Tobias Domzalski got _ really _ angry.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lexicon  
Changeling: A human who has been gradually changed by their durance in Faerie, becoming partly fae themselves.  
Faerie: The domain of the True Fae and once prison to all changelings.  
Fae, True Fae: The immortal inhabitants of Faerie; the creatures that abduct humans and make them into changelings. Also known as “The Gentry”.  
Fetch: A Fae-constructed replica of a human being, left behind to take an abductee’s place.  
Hedge, the: The thorny otherworld that lies between the mortal world and Faerie.


	2. Chapter 2

“Is everything alright at home, Jim? You’ve been dozing off in my class a lot, as of late.”

Jim managed a tired smile.

“Yes, yes, it’s just… I didn’t get a lot of sleep last night.”

Mr. Strickler sighed.

“Jim, I know you’re a good kid.” He started scribbling something on a piece of paper. “But I feel like I’m overdue a conversation with your mother. Tell her to call me, please.”

The boy only nodded, taking the phone number and preparing to go to his next class - P.E., which he dreaded more than anything else in the world.

“Oh, and a last word of advice, if I may.” Added Mr. Strickler, a playful smile on his face. “If you fancy Miss Nuñez, I suggest that talking to her might be more fruitful than staring at her.”

Jim smiled awkwardly.

“Will do. Thanks, Mr. Strickler.”

It was common knowledge that Steve Palchuk was the school’s head bully. He wasn’t the biggest or the strongest guy around, but he had a certain charisma and a certain viciousness that certainly made him the most feared.

He was also considered attractive, apparently, but Jim didn’t really understand that part, mostly because blond, stupid and cruel really wasn’t his type.

Steve’s favourite victim was Elijah Pepperjack, a scrawny little kid who bore both the curse of having glasses and the one of being very invested in things generally considered to be “weird”, like conspiracy theories and supernatural sightings.

As a general rule, Jim didn’t like to get involved. He liked being anonymous, with the low-key invisibility granted by his averageness and lack of close friends, because if they weren't paying attention to him they forgot that Jim believed that aliens had abducted Toby and left a clone in his place.

But Steve was right there today, stuffing Eli in a locket. And something in Jim’s chest roared in outrage, because Eli had helped him, had _believed_ when everyone else thought he was crazy.

He let his bike and helmet fall to the ground.

“Let him go.”

Steve barked out a half-laugh, barely even looking at him.

“Mind your own business, Lake.” He scoffed, shifting his attention back on the locker who currently held Elijah. “Now, dweebface, where were we? Oh, right, the _ monster _ in the canals, with horns and… what was it?”

“Stone for skin!” Answered Eli’s voice, trembling and muffled by the locker. “Stone for skin and emeralds for eyes!”

“_ Stone for skin! _ Jeez, Eli, you got some imagination!”

Steve and his lackeys laughed again, drowning Eli’s voice, begging them to let him out. The fear in his voice hit Jim like a sledgehammer, like a thick, sour smell that was suddenly everywhere around them.

Jim was sick of it. Sick of the fear, sick of being ignored, sick of being so alone, his best friend gone for years and replaced with an imposter. No, scratch that, he wasn’t sick. He was _ furious _.

“I _ said _.” Jim repeated, covering the ground between him and the bully in two large steps. “Let. Him. Out.”

Steve must have heard the anger, the _ rage _ in Jim’s words and must have taken it as a threat, because he suddenly turned to face him, one hand grabbing him by his shirt and the other clenched in a fist.

“Or you’ll do _ what _, Loony Lake?”

The closeness suddenly stirred something in Jim’s chest. He wanted to push Steve against the lockers, and just- punch him in the face, and keep punching until he dropped on the ground and then continue to beat him until his hands were painted bright with his Steve’s blood and his teeth were sinking around the other’s throat-

“Lake! Palchuk! What is going on here?!”

Steve was suddenly several feet away from him, his face the picture of innocence.

“I was just helping Eli here, Coach. He was… stuck.”

Coach Lawrence appeared satisfied with the lie, and as soon as the door closed Steve’s gaze returned to Jim.

“Friday, at noon.” He whispered into Jim’s ear. “I'll be waiting for you, Loony Lake.”

But Jim wasn’t listening. His heart was beating hard and fast against his ribcage and he was almost shivering, still recovering from the sheer intensity of the anger, the rage, that had suddenly washed over him.

That night, restless dreams of howls and fangs and boiling blood kept him from sleep. As Jim woke, panting and sweating, he realized he couldn’t stay there. He needed to out. He needed to _run_.

And suddenly he was in the woods, running naked and on all fours, like a beast, his claws and paws barely touching the soft soil; the last thing he would remember, come morning, would be the sight of the full Moon hanging heavily in the sky, shining like a bright silver coin.


	3. Chapter 3

Blinkous Galadrigal - who usually went by Blinky - wasn’t a particularly sociable person. He had enjoyed his brother’s company, but Dictatious Galadrigal had met his death long ago, and Blinkous did not, regrettably, have access to necromancy.

So he was used to spend his nights in his library, studying ancient texts and conducting experiments that would supposedly improve his vampiric condition, only going out when the hunger for fresh blood became close to unbearable.

The addition of a new companion was… sudden, but not unwelcome. Vampires were social animals just as humans, if not more.

Aaarrrgh - the curious name that Blinky’s companion chose for himself - was undoubtedly  _ some _ sort of supernatural creature, although one which the vampire had little familiarity with; apparently, the man was not exactly alive, instead animated by some sort of magical energy called “Divine Fire”, but other than that, Blinky was really making blind guesses, as Aaarrrgh did not like to talk about his past.

Blinky did not mind that too much; after all, Aaarrrgh was, despite his somewhat thuggish appearance and difficulties with the english language, very smart, and possessed a surprisingly extensive knowledge of alchemy and its practices.

But there was something that Blinky  _ did _ know about Aaarrrgh; apparently, his companion was on some sort of road to an apotheosis of sorts, the process of which involved, at least partially, the study of other supernatural creatures. 

Although, that tidbit of information hadn’t come from Aaarrrgh himself, but rather from the uncanny insight into the secrets of the world that all vampires of Clan Mekhet, himself included, possessed.

Blinky wasn’t proud of that. He was a scholar and a scientist, not a  _ thief _ who stole knowledge from someone else’s mind without their consent.

But he just  _ had  _ to know. He had to know the man he had come to trust so much wasn’t a- a trick, something staged by the less ethical vampires of Arcadia Oaks to betray him and steal everything from him.

Vampires are social animals.

But they  _ are  _ animals.

Which was why Blinky was always wary when Arcadia’s Kindred community was summoned in the local Elysium; Vendel, the city’s oldest vampire and therefore Prince, had apparently an important announcement to make, but the unexpected urgency in their summons made the Kindred cautious, even more so than what was normal.

When he actually managed to show up on the stage, Vendel was… somber. Or at least he  _ looked _ like it. Surprisingly, behind him was not his bodyguard/law enforcer Kanjigar. That caused some whispering in the abandoned theater, but one gesture from the Prince silenced them.

“It is with great regret,” began the elder, “that I inform you that, as of yesternight, our Sheriff has met his Final Death.”

As the whispers returned, louder this time, Blinky found his eyes wandering through the seats, searching for Kanjigar’s childe.

Draal - who had cast out his mortal name at the moment of Embrace - was still as death, his gaze lost somewhere distant, but he did not look saddened or enraged, as Blinky would have expected, probably because he had learned of the fact the night before through the bond of the Blood. Blinky remembered the moment when his own sire had died - but her death had come almost a century after his Embrace; Draal was still a neonate, with barely ten years of unlife on his shoulders.

Blinky suddenly felt incredibly old. 

“Kanjigar’s eulogy will be held tomorrow night at the mausoleum.” Vendel made direct eye contact with him, and Blinkous shivered. “Dismissed.”

Blinky sighed. Although the Prince hadn’t  _ explicitly _ commanded him to do anything, he knew what that look meant. Reluctantly, he followed Vendel in the backstage, and was surprised to see Draal right behind him, a murderous look on his face.

“Kanjigar was killed.” Said Vendel, not even bothering with formalities. “I know of your… arcane skills, Blinkous, and I wish for you to employ those skills to find my Sheriff’s murderer and bring them to justice.”

Had his body been alive, Blinky might have started sweating.

“Surely there must be other Mekhet willing to help.” He  _ did _ swallow, because old habits die hard. “Rot and Guts-”

“Are under the protection of the Circle of the Crone, which has made clear  _ won’t _ help us.” Interrupted Vendel. “You, on the other hand, are the only member of the Ordo Dracul present in my city. I have welcomed you and gave you domain over the canals out of respect for your covenant, but I can just as well take those rights away.”

Behind him, Draal growled, and Blinky could only bow.

“Excellent. I trust that you will shed light on this… mystery.” Said the Prince. “You are dismissed.”

As he followed the younger vampire in the dark of the night, Blinky wished, not for the first time that night, that he had stayed at home with Aaarrrgh.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lexicon  
Childe (pl.: childer): Kindred “offspring”; also used to refer to particularly young neonates, or as a minor insult (akin to calling someone a “kid” in mortal circles).   
Circle of the Crone, the: A covenant of ritualistic Kindred who revere pagan gods, spirits, pantheons and/or progenitors, practitioners of a dark and bloody form of witchcraft.  
Elder: A vampire who has survived for over 150 years; also a term of respect.  
Elysium: A location used for Kindred gatherings and declared a neutral, “no violence” sanctuary by the authorities of a domain.  
Embrace, the: The act of turning a mortal into a vampire.  
Final Death: A Kindred’s real, true, ultimate death; when her unlife ceases and she never again rises as a vampire.  
Kindred: The modern (and most frequent) term by which vampires refer to themselves and their race.  
Mekhet: A clan of vampires known for being quick, discreet, and wise.  
Neonate: A young vampire, engaged in his unlife for less than 50 years.  
Ordo Dracul: A covenant of vampires known for its mystic studies and desire to transcend the vampiric curse.  
Prince: A vampire who has claimed a given expanse of domain as her own, generally a city, and administers that domain. The term can refer to a Kindred of either sex.  
Sire: A vampiric “parent,” one who has Embraced a childe; alternatively, a verb, meaning “to Embrace.”


	4. Chapter 4

Rumor had it that James Lake was a bit… loony. School corridor whispers told of how he had been Domzalski’s best friend in the whole school for years and suddenly, around five years ago, Jim suddenly didn’t want anything to do with the other kid, claiming that he wasn’t the real Toby or some other absurd thing.

Claire didn’t really believe that: even the strongest friendships can break over the smallest things, and she was sure that James and Toby’s was one of them.

Until her brother wasn’t her brother anymore.

It happened overnight, so Claire was sure she wasn’t imagining it. She even tried to talk about it with her parents, but they immediately shut her up, saying it was probably just stress from school, or the play, or just her being on that damn phone all the time.

But lately little Enrique Nuñez was eating broccoli without so much as a whine, refused to sleep with his favourite stuffed bunny, and.

And his teeth were all grown in. Perfectly white. Perfectly straight.

_ That _ wasn’t her brother.

It still took Claire some days to remember the tale about Lake’s supposed madness, but when she did she knew what to do. Or, at the very least, where to begin her search.

So when she saw him after school, she took her chances.

“Hey girls, sorry, gotta go.”

Darci and Mary waved at her and returned chatting about the latest movie they had seen, while Claire approached the boy.

“Hi! James Lake, right? I’m Claire Nuñez.”

Lake flinched, turning to her; he looked worn, tired, but his eyes started nervously darting around.

“Uhm, I usually go by Jim, but yeah. Uhm.” He made an awkward gesture with his hands. “Can I… help you?”

Claire started silently cursing herself. She couldn’t say ‘Hi, what’s up with the thing about your friend Toby not really being Toby? Because I think that also happened to my brother.’

“Oh, well, you’re good in history, right?” Claire improvised. “I’m falling behind, and I just thought- could you help me?”

Jim stared at her with a weird focus in his eyes and Claire shivered.

“You’re lying.” He said, calm, even. “What do you want from me, Claire?”

“I’m-” She stumbled. She didn’t expect him to see through the lie. “I need to talk to you. In private.”

“Well, we’re alone.” And sure enough, there were maybe two other students in the courtyard, both fairly distant from where they were. “But make it quick, I need to go.”

Claire took a deep breath.

“Is it true what you say about Toby Domzalski?”

Jim’s gaze hardened, and got on the bike.

“Figures.” He said. “The only time a girl wants to talk to me, and it’s to figure out if I’m crazy.”

“Wait!” Instinctively, Claire reached out, grabbed his arm. “I don’t think you’re crazy.”

“Then why are you asking?”  
“Because- because it’s happening to me too.” She hated her voice for faltering, in that moment. But she still kept her chin up, still kept looking Jim in the eyes, and still didn’t cry. “Enrique - my little brother - is gone but there’s someone, _ something _ in his place and I don’t know what it is and I know it sounds completely crazy and like I’m losing my mind but I know that thing isn’t my brother but _ no one is listening to me! _”

For a moment, everything was still. Not a whisper of wind moved, not a leaf fell.

“Let’s go to my house.” Jim said, finally, his tone flat. “There’s something I need to show you.”

“What is this?”

Jim shot her a small, shy smile.

“Toby disappeared five years ago. Did you think I didn’t try to figure at least _ something _ out in that time?”

Claire looked at the various books, some of them modern, other printed from the internet. weirdly impressed. Jim never gave her the idea of someone who liked to read…_ An Encyclopedia of Fairies, Hobgoblins, Brownies, Boogies, and Other Supernatural Creatures_?

“No, I meant- what’s all of this for?” 

“I’ve looked up everything I could on stories of- you know, people disappearing, like alien abductions.” Jim said again. “But the more I read into it, the more I felt like… there was something missing.”

Claire nodded, even if internally she was kind of regretting coming in Lake’s house with apparently no adult supervision. She had told her parents that she had gone to Mary’s to study, and Mary would back her up if questioned, but if she was going to be killed and buried in Jim Lake’s backyard that didn’t really matter.

“So… what’s your theory?”

Jim pointed at a printed Wikipedia article.

“Have you ever heard of changelings, Claire?”

“... no?”

Jim sighed, and sat on his bed.

“In the- Dark Ages or whatever, people thought that fairies would come into their houses and steal their babies away, leaving something in their place. Sources differ on _ what _ was left - some say other human babies, others the fairies’ children or elders.” The boy gave her a small, tired smile. “Sounds crazy, but it checks out, right?”

Claire bit her bottom lip.

“So you think _ fairies _ stole my brother?”

“There’s a way to prove it, I think.” Jim grabbed one of the self-printed books. “It’s a. Uhm. It’s a spell.”

Claire scoffed. This was getting ridiculous.

“Sure. A spell. Why not?”

“Hey, _ you _ asked for my help, Claire.”

Claire didn’t answer.

“But if you want to- go away, back out, it’s okay. I won’t hold it against you.” Jim barked out a half-laugh. “I _ do _make it sound pretty crazy.”

But if she walked out now, who would find Enrique?

“Let’s do it. What do you need for… for the spell?”

The other boy gave her a curious glare.

“Just two things. A mirror, the focus of the spell, and a drop or two of your blood.”

“You’ve tried this before, right?”

“... no. The spell only works with the blood of a relative of the… kidnapped.”

“Cool. Cool. Okay.”

Soon they were on the floor of Jim’s bedroom, a mirror between them and few drops of blood tracing a circle and a symbol on the mirror’s surface.

“You ready, Claire?” As she nodded, Jim looked through the pages. “Ok, here says you need to breathe on the mirror and repeat your brother’s full name three times.”

Claire, because she _ really _ didn’t have anything to lose with this, leaned on the mirror, breathed on it, and whispered.

_ Enrique Nuñez. _

_ Enrique Nuñez. _

_ Enrique Nuñez. _

And the world shattered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Do not cast spells you found on the internet. This has been a PSA.

**Author's Note:**

> Lexicon  
Changeling: A human who has been gradually changed by their durance in Faerie, becoming partly fae themselves.  
Faerie: The domain of the True Fae and once prison to all changelings.  
Fae, True Fae: The immortal inhabitants of Faerie; the creatures that abduct humans and make them into changelings. Also known as “The Gentry”.  
Fetch: A Fae-constructed replica of a human being, left behind to take an abductee’s place.  
Hedge, the: The thorny otherworld that lies between the mortal world and Faerie.


End file.
